380 



CYPERACEiE. 



Carex. 



Culm 1-3 feet high, triquetrous, weak and often somewhat decumbent, rough on the 

 angles above. Leaves pale yellowish green, mostly radical, 1-2 lines wide. Spikelets 

 mostly 3, but sometimes 4 or only 2, sterile below ; the two lower ones with a setaceous bract 

 at the base. Perigynium membranaceous, erect or a little spreading, plano-convex, pale, 

 distinctly rough on the margin ; the convex surface smooth and obscurely nerved. Scales 

 whitish and translucent, with a rough point or short bristle. Achenium ovate, lenticular. 



Moist woods : common in the western parts of the State. Fl. Early in June. 



25. Carex canescens, Linn. White Carex. 



Spikelets about 6, rather distant, elliptical (pale), with minute bracts at the base ; peri- 

 gynium broadly ovate, flatly plano-convex, obscurely striate, rather acute, slightly rough on 

 the margin, nearly entire at the orifice, about the length of the scale. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 974 ; 

 Schk. Car. t. C. /. 13 ; Wahl. act. Holm. 1803. p. 147; Torr. Cyp. p. 393. C. curta, 

 Good, in Linn, trans. 2. p. 145 ; Muhl. gram. p. 232 ; Dew. I. c. 8. p. 83 ; Schwein. 

 Torr. Car. I. c. p. ..318; Beck, hot. p. 435 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 403. C. Richardi, Michx. 

 fl. 2. p. 170. 



var. sphcerostachya : spikelets 3 - 4, roundish, few-flowered : perigynium narrower, acu- 

 minated with a conspicuous beak. Tuckerm. in Sill. jour. 45. p. 39. C. canescens, /3., 

 Torr. I. c. 



Culms 15-24 inches high, clustered, triquetrous, rough above, striate. Leaves broadly 

 linear, pale green. Spikelets 4-8, nearly one third of an inch long, alternate ; the lower 

 ones from 3 lines to nearly an inch apart, staminate below ; the bracts at the base short, with 

 a very slender setaceous point. Scales ovate, whitish and hyaline, acute with a mucronate 

 tip, mostly about the length of the perigynium, but sometimes a little longer. Perigynium 

 somewhat corky below, marked with 6-8 faint nerves on both sides ; the orifice very slightly 

 2-toothed. Achenium obovate, lenticular, crowned with the articulated style. 



Wet meadows : frequent ; var. sphcerostachya, Penn-Yan (Dr. Sartwell). Fl. May. Fr. 

 June. According to Dr. Boott, Linnaeus confounded this species with C. Buxbaumii and C. 

 alpina ; and the description of C. canescens in the Sp. pi. having been drawn chiefly from C. 

 Buxbaumii, he considers that the proper C. canescens. The silvery white color of the mature 

 spikelets is a good distinguishing mark of this Carex. 



26. Carex stellulata, Good. Little Prickly Sedge. 



Spikelets 3-4, roundish or ovoid, rather approximated ; perigynia ovate, acuminate, ciliate- 

 scabrous on the margin, 2-toothed at the summit, at length spreading horizontally, a little 

 longer than the ovate rather obtuse scale. — Good, in Linn, trans. 2. p. 1114 ; Schk. Car. 

 t. C. f. 14 ; Dew. Car. I. c. 11. p. 306 ; Schwein. <§• Torr. Car. I. c. p. 317; Beck, bot. 

 p. 435 ; Torr. Cyp. p. 392 ; Kunth, enum. 2. p. 399. 



var. sterilis : inflorescence more or less dioecious ; the pistillate spikes bearing very few 



